How to Get a Job in the Events Industry: A Recruiter's Guide

I never fully intended to work in events. My first recruiting job just happened to be at an events company. I stayed because, as I like to say, "it's important to love the products and the people," and I've now spent more than ten years hiring in B2B events, including as a Talent Acquisition Manager at Informa. Today I also run B2BEventJobs.com, a hand-curated job board for the B2B events industry, and I coach professionals on their next move.

I recently sat down with Paul De Barros for Episode 1 of In The Room: The Events & Expo Podcast, "Landing Your Dream Job in Events." We covered what really gets people hired in event marketing, event operations, sponsorship sales, and expos. Here are the most useful parts, whether you're breaking into events or moving up inside the industry.

What hiring managers notice in the first 10 seconds

I spend most of my time reading resumes, and in the first few seconds I'm asking one question: do I understand you? As I said on the podcast, "I just need to understand you really, really quickly."

If you come from another event business, that's easy. If you're coming from outside events, do more of the work for me:

• Use clear, recognizable job titles. If your internal title is unusual, translate it into what the market calls that job.
• Add a headline under your name. Skip the photo. Put the two or three things you're known for or aiming at, such as "Global Event Operations Manager" or the industry you specialize in.
• Write so a recruiter can read top down. The headline should tell me exactly what I'm about to learn as I read the rest of your resume.

One health tech events client had the internal title "Senior Manager, Event Operations." Her headline became "Senior Event Manager | Healthcare & Health Tech Events | Tradeshows, Logistics & Operations": the searchable job, her industry, and her shows. A senior events and media sales client's resume opened with the slogan "DRIVE REVENUE AND GROWTH." It became "STRATEGIC ACCOUNT DIRECTOR | B2B EVENTS, MEDIA & SPONSORSHIPS | HEALTHCARE & TECHNOLOGY." For a sponsorship sales client with self-made titles from contract work, we rebuilt a clear progression up to Director of Sales and grouped the gigs under one consultancy entry, which also explained the gap.

Show results and scale, not just responsibilities

The mistake I see most is what I call responsibilities without results. You tell me you were responsible for sponsorship sales, but not how you grew sponsorship revenue: average order value, deal size, quota attainment. Event companies need those numbers for virtually every job function.

The second is not showing scale. When I work with VPs on hiring for their teams, they're very clear about the size of show they need someone to have worked on. So, from the episode: "Don't tell me that you've worked on big events. Tell me you've managed a 3,000-person conference. You've managed 30,000-person trade shows. Give me more than a title."

Go-to-market roles should show revenue impact; operations roles, cost savings with vendors and venues. We're beyond the days of just saying a show ran smoothly.

Here's a real before-and-after from an events and media sales client. Before:

"Responsible for driving revenue in a geographic territory valued at $2mm promoting data, demand generation, education, events and media products to enhance audience engagement and meet client goals and expectations. Exceeded quota by 15%."

After:

• Managed a $2M geographic territory, promoting data, demand generation, education, events, and media products to enhance audience engagement and meet client goals.
• Exceeded quota by 15%.

Lead with the action, and give the result its own line.

When I rework a client's resume, the strongest numbers move to the top. One show organizer grew a brand-matchmaking meetings program from 18 to about 1,000 meetings a year. A sales client now leads with the $11M territory he managed at a major organizer. For someone newer in a role, it can be high-level: about $500K in pipeline, 10 to 15 relationships, and four proposals in progress.

Also: lead with your strongest employer, keep it to two clean pages, use real numbers, match your LinkedIn, and skip dating phrases like "20+ years."

Use AI to assist your resume, not to copy the job description

Many job seekers have AI mirror the job description into their resume, whether or not they've done that work. It backfires the moment you have to discuss those responsibilities in an interview.

My preference is an authentic resume where you generate the content. Then use AI to help with sentence structure, trim the wording, or organize the information. In other words: "AI-assisted content, not AI-generated content."

Also avoid generic content. In busy markets like New York, roles can draw hundreds or even thousands of applicants, and a clear headline, the right keywords, and a clear story are how you stand out.

Where the jobs are: roles event companies keep hiring for

Every events business I've worked with focuses on go-to-market and revenue. These areas stay in demand:

• Business development and sponsorship sales. This is consistent across organizers, with growth coming from sponsorship, delegate revenue, media, and advertising.
• Audience acquisition. People who bring VIPs and decision-makers into hosted buyer programs and community memberships. As I put it on the show: "If you don't get the right audience to the show, you're going to lose your sponsors."
• Digital. It's not just booth space and tables, which is really square footage. Digital advertising before and after the show extends revenue to 365 days a year, even when the event happens once a year.
• Data and analytics. Businesses are investing in people who can read event and audience data, understand who attends and what they do, and use it to retarget them with marketing.

How to answer "How do you use AI?" in an interview

Businesses are mostly coming at AI from a positive place. Many will ask if you use ChatGPT, but the real question behind it is: "Can you tell me how you use AI to change the way you work?"

Be specific to your role: campaigns and segmentation for marketers, account research and call prep for sales, summarizing post-event feedback for operations. Don't just say, "I use AI to write my emails." Explain how it made you more efficient, saved the business money, or made the business money.

On video interviews, keep it a conversation, not a script. One small tip I give clients: look a few inches below your camera, because that's where the eye contact lands for the person on the other end.

Don't let a missing tool stop you from applying

Technology is usually the easiest thing to teach; attitude is what you need to bring. If you've used HubSpot but not Salesforce, a team can bridge that.

So, in my words from the episode: "You should absolutely never not apply for something because you don't have one or two of the qualifications." In the interview, acknowledge the gap, mention the similar tool you have used, and say you're open to learning it. It also helps to learn the market-leading platforms; Cvent Academy is a good place to start.

Aiming for a senior role? Speak the language of growth

Private equity ownership brings investment into event companies, along with an expectation of pace and accountability. Senior hires should expect questions about forecasting, productivity, growth, margins, recurring revenue, and product extensions. If you're not comfortable managing a P&L, it will likely show up in the interview, so prepare for it.

Where to find events industry jobs

• B2BEventJobs.com: my hand-curated board for roles in B2B events, from sales and marketing to operations and content.
• LinkedIn: set three to five Boolean alerts for your target titles.

Look past the big organizers like Informa, RX, Clarion, Hyve, and Diversified. Analyst firms run conference businesses (Gartner, Forrester), media brands have live-events arms (Bloomberg Live, Reuters Events, Foundry), and executive-summit and community event companies hire too. So do competitors of your past employers, DMCs, agencies, and event tech companies. If one event tech company is interviewing you, contact its competitors.

Keep a short Wishlist with a careers-page link and a one-line fit note per company. Filter it: check acquisitions and parent companies, match your lane (account growth or new business), seniority, and location, and favor verticals you already know.

An application isn't finished until you've messaged someone. Start with HR or talent acquisition, then the hiring manager. Apply within 24 hours and track everything like a sales pipeline: Wishlist, Applied, Interview, Offer.

Your next step

For an honest read on your resume, start with a free resume review. If you'd like hands-on help, my 3-week Career Coaching Program ($499, six sessions) covers your resume, LinkedIn, interview prep, and an outreach plan. Not sure what you need? Book a free 30-minute call and we'll figure out your best next step together.

You can also listen to the full conversation on YouTube, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts.

FAQ

How do I get a job in the events industry with no event experience?

Make yourself easy to understand: clear titles, a headline naming the event role you want, and results the events business cares about, like revenue, audience, cost savings, and scale.

What should an events industry resume include?

A clear headline, recognizable titles, results rather than responsibilities, and the scale of your events. Keep the content your own; use AI only to tighten it.

Should I apply if I don't have every qualification or tool listed?

Yes. Technology is usually the easiest thing for a team to teach. Apply, name a similar tool you've used, and show you're ready to learn.

Which events jobs are in demand?

In my experience: business development and sponsorship sales, audience acquisition, digital advertising, and data and analytics roles, alongside the operations roles that keep shows running.